The Catapult Effect
by Penguinator27
Summary: One-shot. "He wasn’t sure what to say, but felt that—as he looked at her before a background of dark space and imminent blue—Relena would have something to talk about." What does it take for someone to realize that their life is their own?


A/N: Well, I'm really not sure where this came from. I really just thought of it and wrote it this morning. I've left another note at the end, explaining myself. I hope you enjoy it.

The Catapult Effect

He'd not lost track of her once. In general. If she was on Earth, he knew what city she was in; if she was in space, he knew what colony. It was a habit.

So it was no surprise to him to see a flyer tacked to bulletin board at the university with her name on it: "Balance on the Scale of Peace: Society, Economics, Politics, and the Future of the Earth Sphere—Foreign Minister Darlian's Farewell Tour—October 23, 201." He wasn't sure what something like that was doing in the engineering building. Really, though, the neon flyers were plastered everywhere else; why should the dark building of science be any different?

He—and anyone who cared to follow the news—knew that she had spoken in several places in L3 the week before. Her meetings and speaking engagements in L1 were to be her last before returning to Earth to officially end her term as the Foreign Minister. The announcement of her resignation had come six months earlier, when she dropped out of the race to hold the office for another term. She'd spent much of the time wrapping up the causes she had campaigned for and giving final addresses all over Earth. Then she had been catapulted into space to do the same in the colonies in only a matter of weeks.

Parts of her speeches had been televised, and Heero had gone to some of her addresses before, but he was still considering going to this one.

But only if he had the time after class. His penultimate semester was proving to be a grueling one; besides his top-level classes, he was also occupied with meeting application deadlines to graduate schools on Earth. Studying plain mechanical engineering in the colonies was fine, but—as had been pointed out by colonial rights advocates many times—the best schools were all on Earth.

A group of younger students burst out of the small room, and Heero filed in along with others for lecture. As he was taking out a haggard-looking notebook from his bag, someone tapped his shoulder. He looked up to see a man who sat by him often; he didn't know his name.

"Hey, Yuy, you still into that computer security stuff?"

"Why?"

"I have a friend—he just bought a new one, and I told him about you."

Since he started school, Heero had made his extra money by administering security programming on other students' computers. The program was nearly impeccable, of his own invention, and most likely illegal. Though his small business had began with a subtle classified ad, it had grown and persisted through word of mouth. Even some of the faculty had come to him with their virus- ridden machines.

"Hn."

"Does that mean yes?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Do you want his phone number?"

"Yes."

After class, he called the number. It was his usual way of business.

"Hello?"

"This is Yuy—for the computer."

"Oh, yeah, my friend told me about you."

"Yeah. What were you considering for your new one?"

"Just some good security software. My last one had an expensive program, but it didn't work well."

"You can meet me in the library in two hours. I'll be in one of the first floor work rooms."

So, two hours later, someone came without knocking into the workroom Heero occupied. He had his laptop open on one side of him, a calculator on the other, and diagrams he'd draw scattered all about the table.

"Hi, man. I'm Ike."

"Yuy." Heero didn't look up from his work, leaving this Ike to stand awkwardly in the doorway.

"Well, didn't you bring something for me to look at?"

"Oh, yeah." He set his bag down and extracted a very new-looking laptop. He passed it to Heero.

He opened it in front of him, booted it up, and began clicking away at the keys.

"Don't you need my password?"

Heero ignored him.

"So…how long does this usually take?"

"Usually half an hour. Maybe less; your model isn't a complicated one."

"Oh. Hey, how much is this gonna cost?"

"140 for basic security programs."

"140?"

Heero looked up from the screen. "It's half the price of one you could buy. But mine works better, I assure you. Do you want me to stop?"

"No, no, I'll pay."

Heero continued in silence.

"So, how do you not get caught doing this stuff? It's against the law, right?"

"Strictly speaking, no. There is no law against one creating programs. However, selling it to you without having it licensed may be a questionable practice. As for getting caught—I don't count on it."

"Why not?"

"I wrote the program, but I don't think anyone will ever be able to trace it back to me. I'm not worried." Heero let a small yawn escape, and ceased typing to cover his mouth.

"Long day, man?"

Heero just nodded.

"What do you study?"

Heero wondered what he was doing, sticking around and talking to him. Most people left and came back to pay and pick their property up. "Engineering."

"Whoa, then I bet you have lots of those."

Heero only nodded again.

"Me, I study history. And it's totally chill. I mean, there're papers now and again, I guess. But I just like to think of it as learning a bunch of stories, you know?"

Heero didn't know, and wasn't sure what to say. "That's…nice."

"You know what? You're strange, Yuy."

Heero flashed a look at him without stopping his work.

"I mean, it's not bad or anything. Hey, you know what? You should come with me to this thing I'm going to after this. It's supposed to be standing room only, and we'll probably be late, but I'm sure it's gonna be good." He slapped the flyer for the Foreign Minister's speech on the table.

Heero gawked at it.

"You know who she is, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you want to come? It'll probably be the last chance either of us get to see her again."

This statement struck Heero like he hadn't expected. It was true that when she withdrew from politics, she would probably lead a much quieter life. He might be able to find out where she was, but would he ever see her again?

"Uh, are you okay?"

"Oh. Sorry. Um, I guess I could go with you."

"Cool." He began to yammer on about the Foreign Minister's something or other; Heero wasn't listening, now totally engrossed in his task.

They left the library together. The sun had already set, and the sidewalks were lit by buzzing, orange lights. They didn't meet anyone until they had slipped through the doors of the university's largest auditorium. The address had started, but people were still filling the nosebleed section of the auditorium. It was from there that Heero saw Relena in person for the first time in two years.

She didn't look much different from her television appearances, especially from their height, but he did note a few different things about her from the distance. Instead of her usual three- piece suit, she wore simple khaki slacks and a white button- down shirt. Her hair—so often tied back or done up in some way or other—was loose and completely without ornament. Her bangs fell neatly across her forehead in a fashionable way, and her hair swung about her shoulders as she moved and gesticulated behind the podium. She didn't exactly look younger—because she _was_ young—but more youthful somehow.

In her speech, she went over both hers and the government's various campaigns for peace, speculating how each may develop in the future, making suggestions on how future administrations may keep the processes on track.

"All in all, I wish to see—from the sidelines, of course—not only a government, but a society that becomes accustomed to the easy peace we've found. A society that practices it, values it, strives to maintain it, and grows with it. I thank you for both your support, and for your criticism over the last few years, and for your attention tonight. Thank you."

She stepped down from the podium, giving a small bow of the head to her standing ovation, waving as she was escorted off the stage by her security. Heero watched until the last whips of her hair disappeared behind the curtain.

He and Ike took their seats again, waiting for the crowd to thin out before attempting to climb down the stairs.

"So, what are you going to do now?"

"I have to go home. I'm going to Earth tomorrow."

"Earth? Really?"

"Yes. A university is paying for me to go. They want me to go to their school."

"That's great, man. You must be awesome."

"Hn." Ike's easiness around him was something he was unaccustomed to.

"Well, do you need a ride home or anything?"

"I don't live far."

"Me neither. Come on, I'll give you a ride."

Usually, Heero walked to the apartment building he lived in. It was just a few streets away from the campus. He couldn't help but say no to Ike, though.

Before he started his car, he fumbled with a lighter.

"You don't mind, do you?"

"No."

"You want some?"

"It's fine, I don't smoke."

"Ok. Where do you live?"

"The apartments on Egan street."

"Hey, you weren't kidding. That is close."

Ike cracked the window to let the smoke out, but it still smelled.

"Is that a cigarette?" Heero felt the urge to cough rising in his throat.

Ike laughed a little. "Uh, no. You want some?"

"Uh…" Heero couldn't think of the right answer. He wasn't sure which was which. "Sure."

"This your first time?"

Heero nodded.

Ike gave him instructions, which Heero followed closely, and paid dearly for when his throat caught fire and he broke into a coughing fit.

"There, that means you did it right. Now do it again, then pass it back to me."

Heero did what he was told.

They sat in front of Heero's apartment building until there was nothing left.

"Oh, this is bad, this is bad."

"Why, man?"

"My shuttle leaves in the morning. I can't go like this." He put his hands on either side of his head.

"Don't worry, man. You'll wake up fine. Most likely."

"What?"

"It's going to be okay, don't worry."

"Okay."

Ike turned his music up slightly, while Heero stared straight ahead, ruminating over the shrubs in front of the building.

"That address was…amazing. She can really just talk."

"Yeah."

"About woodwork."

"What?"

"About woodwork. If she talked about woodwork, I think I could even listen to that."

"Yeah. You know, I've talked to her before."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She's like that all the time."

"How?"

"She's…full of energy. It could be angry energy, or sad, or just…energetic energy."

"Wow. Sounds like you know her."

"A little I guess."

"Really? How?"

"Uh… we went to the same school for a while."

"Sheesh, where'd you go to school?"

"Saint something."

Ike put his head on the steering wheel and laughed a little.

"What?"

Ike didn't answer, but kept on with his laughing. After a few seconds, Heero felt his shoulders shaking back and forth, slightly. He was laughing, too. It was a small laugh, but it felt unnatural all the same. It even started to hurt his stomach muscles, but he still didn't stop until he had the urge to say something.

"I'm never going to see her again."

"Yeah, she's gonna quit and do—stuff, I guess."

"Yeah." Heero got the sudden sense that he needed to get out of the car.

Ike unlocked the door for him. "Relax. Be careful if you're going upstairs."

"Okay. Um…I guess I should say thank you."

"Sure, sure. You're fun, Yuy. I've got your number now. We'll do this again."

Heero trudged up the stairs and thought absently that—as much as he thought he might appreciate Ike's strange company—he wouldn't like to do anything of the sort again. Probably.

As soon as he got inside the apartment, he walked in the dark to the refrigerator, taking water out. He packed the last of his things in his suitcase and had two cans of soup before he crashed onto his bed. He hadn't undressed, but felt comfortable enough above the covers.

How had he gotten here? He didn't ask for this—not for any of it. Not for association with Relena, not for a trip to Earth, not for Ike's strange favor. He hadn't asked for a lot of things; instead, he felt thrown everywhere.

"I've been thrown _everywhere_. I don't do what I want to do because I plan to do it. I plan to do what I do because everyone else plans to do what they want to do, which effects my ability to plan what _I_ want to do. I'm leaving space. I'm going to plan to do what I want to do, regardless of what anyone else plans to do."

"Who are you talking to?"

Heero tensed, looking around his dark room for the hidden speaker, realizing shortly after that it was just the voice in his head.

He rolled over, thinking as he drifted off easily of the reasons Relena might have for resigning.

He felt normal and drowsy when he woke up at four the next morning. He showered, dressed, and called for a cab to the spaceport.

Security was of its usual tight nature at the spaceport. Aside from getting a metal-tipped mechanical pencil confiscated, everything went smoothly.

While other passengers in the semi-full shuttle dozed through the early- morning flight, Heero took advantage of the time to get ahead on his reading. The trip would take a few hours, and he had a pile of reading material stacked in the empty window seat next to him.

Halfway through the flight, someone's hand brushed against the side of his head from the aisle. He would have ignored it if the hand's owner hadn't bothered to apologize.

"Excuse me, sir."

They might have easily missed each other.

Heero looked up at the first sound of the sentence, catching her eye just as she was turning away to continue down the aisle. Recognition dawning almost immediately, she turned back to him.

Relena was dressed casually, as she had been at the previous day's address. Her hair was still loose and cast over her shoulders.

She clenched one of her fists, as her eyes opened wide. Then, a small smile came over her lips.

"Hello, Heero Yuy."

"Relena, he said simply in a matter of greeting.

"Excuse me, ma'am." A flight attendant with a tray in her arms was waiting to pass behind her.

Relena's eyes moved a space just beyond Heero. Following her line of sight, he saw his books and papers in the seat next to them. He moved them into his lap, nodding his head to the vacant seat. She slipped passed him and sat, turned towards him.

He wasn't sure what to say, but felt that—as he looked at her before a background of dark space and imminent blue—Relena would have something to talk about.

A/N: I guess the reason I persisted with this story even though it may seem weird or stupid is that I'm very interested in making Heero's character seem as humanly vulnerable as possible. I don't think I succeeded here, but I've also always been interested in how substances might effect Heero's behavior. Ike is my own character—based off of someone I know. However, Heero's experience is not based on any I might have had. I know it's not my best work by any means, and quite possibly one of the lower-end GW fanfics around, but I'd appreciate your feedback anyway. Much love.

--Penguinator, 8/22/08, 11:42 AM.


End file.
